1. Technical Field
The present invention is directed generally toward administering a mobile telephone service. More specifically, the present invention is directed toward transferring services between mobile telephones
2. Description of Related Art
The mobile telephone has ushered in a new era in interpersonal communications. While the late 1990s' widespread consumer interest in the Internet made ours a wired world, technical advances and increased consumer appeal are ushering in a new “wireless world.” A number of mobile telephone manufacturers and service providers cater to a growing base of mobile telephone subscribers. Unlike most local telephone service in the United States, but akin to long-distance service, mobile telephone service is usually billed in minutes of airtime. That is, the amount a customer is charged is proportional to the amount of time spent in mobile telephone calls. For instance, a five minute call will usually cost five times as much as a one minute call. Unlike with long-distance service, however, airtime is generally billed to the customer regardless of whether the customer placed or received the call.
Because having every minute of every call charged for is a major discouragement to consumers wishing to use mobile telephones, mobile service providers generally employ a billing system in which customers pre-pay for a certain number of minutes of airtime each month. When a customer makes a call, the minutes of airtime are subtracted from the customer's balance of minutes for the month. Any additional minutes exceeding the customer's pre-paid balance are billed for separately. In most billing schemes, the current month's minutes expire at the end of the month if not used.
Thus, many mobile telephone customers pay for their telephone usage by redeeming pre-paid credits (measured in minutes of airtime). This scheme has many analogs in other areas of business. For instance, most individuals will mail a letter by first buying a pre-paid postage credit (i.e., a postage stamp), then redeeming the credit (i.e., mailing the letter with the stamp attached). Unlike postage stamps, currency, or other valuable units of exchange, under current mobile telephone billing systems, airtime minutes may not be transferred between customers. From an economic perspective, this can result in an inefficient use of resources. For instance, if a mobile telephone customer pays for 100 minutes of airtime as a part of the normal subscription plan, but the customer, for whatever reason, does not need that many minutes in a given month, the minutes (and the customer's money) will be wasted since the customer does not have a way to transfer those pre-paid minutes to someone who can use them before they expire.
Thus, there exists a need for an ability to transfer minutes from one customer's telephone account to another.